


Singing through the ages

by Katfish_1967



Series: PrUk Oneshots [6]
Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Historical, M/M, aphrarepairweek2018, day 2 - music
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-09
Updated: 2018-12-09
Packaged: 2019-09-15 01:08:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,513
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16923741
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Katfish_1967/pseuds/Katfish_1967
Summary: Three times England and Prussia sing with each other, through love and war.





	Singing through the ages

 

**1815**

 

Arthur sunk on to the ground next to Gilbert, laughing at the soldiers stumbling and singing, out of key and loud from the bottles that had been passed around earlier.

“Your men are easily excitable.” Gilbert said, loud enough that it could just be heard over the noises of celebration.

“Well, it’s not every day you stop a war that’s been going on since 1803!” Arthur rolled his eyes at Gilbert, turning his attention back to to his men, one of which was now standing on a table.

Gilbert was going to reply when the man on the table shouted over the chaos.

“Today was long, and I know we’re all a bit giddy, but that’s the homesickness speaking probably. I know I’m excited to see my wife after fighting over here for so long. So I propose a toast. To our families!” There was a resounding cheer, echoes of the earlier statement.

“Now that’s out of the way, how about a song?” The cheers continued and the first words of a familiar song could be heard.

“A-hunting we will go, A-hunting we will go, heigh ho, the derry-o, a hunting we will go!”

It was off beat and tuneless but Arthur couldn’t help but join in, singing loudly with his fellow men.

“A-hunting we will go, A-hunting we will go, we catch a fox in a box and never let him go!”

Gilbert was singing too, quiet enough that Arthur couldn’t hear. The song was catchy and so was the large smile on Arthur’s face.

 

**1914**

 

Gilbert unclipped his helmet, running numb fingers through his hair. He ignored the mindless chatter from the generals around him. The guns seemed to have stopped for the time being. Maybe people have finally realised what day it is.

“The war will be over by Christmas, my ass.” Someone muttered angrily next to him. Gilbert agreed and went back to his position, not believing the fighting was truly at an end.

From his position, head just peaking out the top of the trench, he saw a young boy climb over the trench top and walk towards the English lines. His hands were held in a surrender, and he seemed to be saying something, though Gilbert couldn’t make it out.

“That kids going to lose his head.” Said the man from earlier, abandoning his post to stand near Gilbert.

As this was said, more people started climbing over the top, and Gilbert finally caught what was being said.

“Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht, Alles schläft, einsam wacht, Nur das traute hochheilige Paar. Holder Knabe im lockigen Haar, Schlaf in himmlischer Ruh! Schlaf in himmlischer Ruh!”

Gilbert threw himself over the top, going to join the rest of the soldiers singing silent night. Across the barbed field of no mans land, Gilbert saw a blonde head of hair amongst the curious British soldiers.

Arthur caught Gilbert in the crowd making their way towards them, unarmed, and made an irrational decision. Dropping his gun, he climbed the trench wall and stood facing the men from the German trenches.

“Silent night, holy night, all is calm, all is bright. Round yon virgin mother and child. Holy infant, so tender and mild. Sleep in heavenly peace, sleep in heavenly peace.” By the end of the first verse, Arthur was simply a face in a sea of faces. People had come to stand with him, sing with him, as an act of peace towards their enemies.

Gilbert winked at Arthur from his crowd and smiled as Arthur laughed.

 

**1991**

 

The Berlin Wall was down, Germany was whole again and the world had decided to chill out.

Arthur had hugged Gilbert when the wall came down, saying it was glad to see him after all that time. Then he left, saying he had work to attend to, only managing to get the day off if he helped with the actual wall breaking. Gilbert was too busy getting bombarded by his family and friends that he missed Arthur limping away, weak and shaking.

//\\\//\\\//\\\//\\\

When Francis asked, Arthur was merely giving Gilbert time to catch up with his family. He hadn’t seen them in so long, it was the right thing to do. When Francis called bullshit, Arthur hung up and turned his phone off.

The truth of the matter was, Arthur didn’t want Gilbert to see him like this. He had even planned to stay away from Berlin as the wall came down, but the temptation to see Gilbert won over rationality. Arthur was pale and tired, the loss of his colonies weakening him massively. His Empire was falling apart, there was tension in Ireland and the Middle East, and Arthur was tired of it. He was too old for this, his bones were too weary.

He mostly stayed inside now. Trying to gain back enough strength to decorate his house for Christmas, but ultimately failing. He just laid in bed, going through shakes similar to withdrawal, and watched Doctor Who.

His phone remained where he threw it after his conversation with Francis, still off. If someone desperately needed him, they’d call his house phone, or, if it was life or death, they’d come and collect him themselves.

Until then, he was going to stick to the schedule he had developed over the past 5 years.

//\\\//\\\//\\\//\\\

Gilbert stared at the door in front of him, willing himself to knock. The curtains were drawn, but Arthur’s car was parked outside. So it wasn’t like he wasn’t in.

Gilbert was here because of the worried messages he’d been getting about Arthur. Alfred, Francis and Matthew had called or texted him, asking him to see Arthur because “you’re the only one who can talk sense into him at this point.”

His knuckles rapped against the door and he stepped back, not wanting to appear overly eager. The door opened but the man on the other side didn’t look like Arthur. Yeah, the shared the same horrific eyebrows and hair the colour of straw, but this man was more gaunt. His clothes hung off his body and his collar bones were so pronounced , Gilbert was scared they would cut him. The dark circles under his eyes were vacuums of light, the deep purple a stark contrast from the sickly colour of his skin. The only thing that had stayed the same, was his eyes. They stayed bright and welcoming, despite being slightly duller than the last time Gilbert got a proper look at them.

“What’s happened to you?” It was out of his mouth before he could stop himself, curiosity getting the best of him.

Arthur seemed to curl in on himself at the words. When he spoke, it was rough and his teeth were yellowed, showing the signs of stress smoking Arthur tended to result to.

“Nothing that concerns you.” His subtle cough, trying to hide the scratchiness of his throat, caught Gilbert’s attention, though he ignored it.

Pushing his way past Arthur and into the house, he walked directly into the kitchen and started filling the kettle up with water. Gilbert moved around the kitchen with ease, something that came from spending so many mornings here. Arthur sat at the table, leaning on his arms as he watched Gilbert move through the routine of a cup of tea.

As the water was heating up, Gilbert moved towards Arthur’s radio, turning it on and trying to find a station that was playing good music. When he was satisfied, he turned up the volume and went back to making two cups of tea, planting a kiss on Arthur’s head as passed.

Arthur smiled slightly, when he heard what song was playing, and hummed the tune under his breath.

A cup of steaming tea was placed on the table in front of him, and the chair next to him was pulled out, creaking slightly at the weight of someone sitting on it. He felt a cold hand grab his and a thumb trail gently over the bruised knuckles from one of his more recent drunk outbursts.

Gilbert could hear Arthur humming and sang over the top of him slightly.

“And you can tell everybody, that this is your song. It may be quite simple but, now that it’s done, I hope you don’t mind, I hope you don’t mind that I put down in words how wonderful life is, while you’re in the world.” Arthur had brought his head while Gilbert was singing, a smile playing across his skinny face.

Gilbert shot Arthur a wink, which made Arthur laugh at the ridiculousness of the action. Gilbert leaned in a placed a small kiss to Arthur’s cheek, and pulled him into a hug. A proper one, not a brief and emotional one like the one they shared in Berlin a few months ago. This one was long and warm, neither wanting to part from the other.

They stayed like that for a while, clutching each other close, listening to a decade old songs.

They’d always come back for each other, because what is an instrument, without a melody to play?

 

  
  


 


End file.
